Serve, Work and Transform: Daily Lectionary Readings for May 22, 2026

Daily Lectionary Readings
(Two-Year Cycle)

Lectionary Readings for

Friday, May 22, 2026

Morning Psalm 96

¹   O sing to the LORD a new song;
          sing to the LORD, all the earth.
²   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
          tell of his salvation from day to day.
³   Declare his glory among the nations,
          his marvelous works among all the peoples.
⁴   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
          he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵   For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
          but the LORD made the heavens.
⁶   Honor and majesty are before him;
          strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
          ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
⁸   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
          bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹   Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
          tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰  Say among the nations, “The LORD is king!
          The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
          He will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
          let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²       let the field exult, and everything in it.
     Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³       before the LORD; for he is coming,
          for he is coming to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with his truth.

Morning Psalm 148

¹   Praise the Lord!
     Praise the Lord from the heavens;
          praise him in the heights!
²   Praise him, all his angels;
          praise him, all his host!

³   Praise him, sun and moon;
          praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴   Praise him, you highest heavens,
          and you waters above the heavens!

⁵   Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for he commanded and they were created.
⁶   He established them forever and ever;
          he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

⁷   Praise the Lord from the earth,
          you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸   fire and hail, snow and frost,
          stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹   Mountains and all hills,
          fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰  Wild animals and all cattle,
          creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹  Kings of the earth and all peoples,
          princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹²  Young men and women alike,
          old and young together!

¹³  Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for his name alone is exalted;
          his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴  He has raised up a horn for his people,
          praise for all his faithful,
          for the people of Israel who are close to him.
     Praise the Lord!

First Reading Jeremiah 31:27-34

²⁷The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. ²⁸And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say: "The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." ³⁰But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

³¹The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt - a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Second Reading Ephesians 5:1-32

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. ⁵Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be associated with them. ⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light - ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

¹⁵Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind - yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. ²⁸In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰because we are members of his body. ³¹"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." ³²This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.

Gospel Reading Matthew 9:9-17

⁹As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" ¹²But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" ¹⁵And Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Evening Psalm 49

¹   Hear this, all you peoples;
          give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
²   both low and high,
          rich and poor together.
³   My mouth shall speak wisdom;
          the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
⁴   I will incline my ear to a proverb;
          I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

⁵   Why should I fear in times of trouble,
          when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
⁶   those who trust in their wealth
          and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷   Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,
          there is no price one can give to God for it.
⁸   For the ransom of life is costly,
          and can never suffice,
⁹   that one should live on forever
          and never see the grave.

¹⁰   When we look at the wise, they die;
          fool and dolt perish together
          and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹   Their graves are their homes forever,
          their dwelling places to all generations,
          though they named lands their own.
¹²  Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
          they are like the animals that perish.

¹³  Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
          the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Selah
¹⁴  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
          Death shall be their shepherd;
     straight to the grave they descend,
          and their form shall waste away;
          Sheol shall be their home.
¹⁵  But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
          for he will receive me. Selah

¹⁶  Do not be afraid when some become rich,
          when the wealth of their houses increases.
¹⁷  For when they die they will carry nothing away;
          their wealth will not go down after them.
¹⁸  Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
          — for you are praised when you do well for yourself —
¹⁹  they will go to the company of their ancestors,
          who will never again see the light.
²⁰  Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
          they are like the animals that perish.

Evening Psalm 138

¹   I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
          before the gods I sing your praise;
²   I bow down toward your holy temple
          and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
          for you have exalted your name and your word
          above everything.
³   On the day I called, you answered me,
          you increased my strength of soul.

⁴   All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
          for they have heard the words of your mouth.
⁵   They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
          for great is the glory of the LORD.
⁶   For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly;
          but the haughty he perceives from far away.

⁷   Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
          you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
     you stretch out your hand,
          and your right hand delivers me.
⁸   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
          your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
          Do not forsake the work of your hands.